THE BOOK OF RUTH. A Deeper Look Into The Life of Ruth BY NOMZAMO MADONSELA

Transcription

1 THE BOOK OF RUTH A Deeper Look Into The Life of Ruth BY NOMZAMO MADONSELA

2 I first became interested in delving deeper into the wisdom in the book of Ruth when I heard a woman of God speak about Ruth and her journey to becoming the wife of Boaz. I had always read this book in the bible as a love story and it had always given me hope of finding true love one day. The Holy Spirit then revealed to me that it is more than just a love story. It s a story about faith. I want to share everything that the Holy Spirit has been revealing to me and teaching me through this word. I hope it blesses you. God bless. Copyright 2017

3 CONTENTS 1. Naomi s Story 2. Boaz s Story 3. Ruth s Story

4 NAOMI S STORY Naomi is a woman from Bethlehem, Judah. She was married to a man named Elimelech and they had two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. The book of Ruth opens up with a summary of the background information about Naomi s family and their current life circumstances. In Ruth chapter 1 verses 1-2 the bible says 1.Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to dwell in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2.The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion - Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they came to the country of Moab, and remained there. This gives us the background information we need to know in order to understand the circumstances of Naomi s life during this time. There was a great famine in the land and a lot of people were suffering because of it. It was a difficult time for the people of Israel because there was no king in the land. If you look at the very last verse of the previous book, Judges 21:25 it says In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. This is why the book of Ruth opens up by telling us that in these days the judges ruled. Can you imagine the state of anarchy that Israel must have been in, added to the fact that there was a famine? It was definitely trying times. This is the image we need to keep in mind when we think about why Naomi and her husband decide to leave Judah for Moab. I want to take a moment to just talk about Bethlehem, Naomi s home town. Despite what the circumstances were at that time, Bethlehem-Judah was a sacred and holy place. Bethlehem actually means house of bread in Hebrew. Judah means praise in Hebrew. This means that you will find bread in the place of praise. Jesus is the bread of life and he who eats the bread of life will never hunger again. It is in our praises that the Lord lives (Psalm 22:3) and therefore it is through praise that we will receive sustenance. Moab, on the other hand, was a country made up of the descendents of Lot. If you read from the book of Genesis 19:30-38 you will find the story of how Lot had a child through an incestuous relationship with his daughter. The people in the country of Moab were pagans. They worshipped idols, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They did not believe in the living God. This gives us a clearer picture of these two places. The one is holy and its people worship the living God, the other is a place where its people worship idols. Now, isn t it ironic that in the place of bread there is now a famine? However, the famine doesn t change the fact that Bethlehem is a house of bread and you can find spiritual sustenance there. Naomi and her husband experienced what every human being experiences in life challenges. Their lives were being rocked and they couldn t handle it or maybe didn t want to handle it. Either way, they stepped out of the place where they could find

5 God and decided that they can make it on their own somewhere else and that maybe somewhere else, anywhere else, other than their current position would yield to them a better life. They went to the place where idols are worshipped. How many times do believers today step out of the holy place, where God is, in search of something that God has power to give? Do you know what is referred to as bread in the bible besides actual bread that you eat? The body of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. As mentioned before, Jesus is the living bread. Jesus says so Himself in John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Therefore the body of Christ is bread for us to eat and eating of this bread brings us salvation. Meaning, accepting Jesus sacrifice, where He gave His life for our sins so that we may be pardoned will allow us to live forever with God in Heaven when we pass from this life and this world. Now we ve established that Bethlehem is the house of bread and we ve also established that Jesus Christ is the living bread that came down from heaven but, Jesus body is not just bread. The church is also referred to as the body of Christ. Thus, the body of Christ is both the living bread and all those who believe in Him. Naomi is just like some of us believers today. You find yourself in the house of bread or the house of God because you are part of the body of Christ. You may not physically be in a holy place but you are where God wants you to be, making that a godly position or a holy place. Then, one day, you find yourself in a famine. You have challenges and trials that you either did not expect to happen or you expect to be immediately handled by God because you re exactly where He wants you to be. You do the right thing as best as you can, you re in the right place and yet these bad things are happening to you. Why me? Why is this happening to me, we ask. You don t realise that your faith is being tested because God favoured you and you re due for a promotion. You don t stop to pray and analyse the situation. You don t ask God what it is you can learn from the challenge or situation you re in so you can grow and mature spiritually. You don t wait on God. Instead, you leave your godly position in search of some relief because when you pray for God to take you out of this situation you don t hear a reply. Or it could be that God is replying but He s not speaking your language. He s not saying what you want to hear Him say, making it seem as if He s not speaking to you at all. With regards to trials and storms we face in life, let us always remember James 1:2-4 which says 2.My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3.knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4.But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

6 The testing of your faith is not an easy process to go through, but once the test is over, you will look back and say that it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn Your statutes. (psalms 119:71) The life of a believer is full of tests, trials and storms. Instead of dreading them, look at the difficult times this way. Storms bring much needed rain to water the surface of the earth, which brings new life. So when you re in a storm, you re just about to get a dose of new life. Tests are difficult but without a test you do not get promoted. Therefore when you re facing tests remember that you re due for a promotion. It s all about perspective. Definitely, the dark times that rock the boat are not easy to go through. Even having a positive perspective doesn t make it easier to go through it. All it does is determine whether you will stand or fall, whether you will get promoted or not, whether you will receive what God has for you or not. In the case of Naomi and Elimelech, they faced a trial and they decided not to wait on God but rather, to take matters into their own hands. They left the house where God had placed them. They left the holy place in search of better days. What do you do when you do all the right things, pray, remain in position but your situation doesn t change? You remain where God has placed you until He releases you to move forward. It s very dangerous to take matters into your own hands because God is God. God is able to lead you and provide for you and protect you from things you may not even be aware of. For example, Naomi and Elimelech left Bethlehem, and not only did they leave Bethlehem but they went to a place where the people of that land worshipped idols. As soon as they settle into Moab Elimelech dies. This is something that may not have happened had they stayed in the place where God had placed them. You see, when God leads you and allows you to go through difficulties, it may be that He is putting you through the fire to refine you. I ve found that often people will be pruned through painful situations. Although the experience is painful but the result is necessary and it is a blessing in disguise. You may be tempted to use logic and do things that make sense to you, all the while missing a great opportunity for God to prune you and pour into your spirit. As we continue to read in chapter one of the book of Ruth we see that Elimelech dies, leaving his wife and two sons behind. Naomi s two sons both get married to women from Moab and they lived there for ten years before tragedy struck again. Both Mahlon and Chilion die, leaving the three women alone. The moment Elimelech dies should have been the moment that Naomi sought the Lord for direction. I know that as human beings sometimes we just act out of our own understanding. We love and respect God as believers but our human brains can only have a certain amount of understanding but when things are not working out, it seems only logical for us to assess the situation and take matters into our own hands, even if that means taking a step in a different direction than where we were originally headed. It happens to all of us but when you move from where God has placed you or from the direction in

7 which He is leading you and something happens to rock the boat; that is the moment you need to take a step back, pray and hear from God concerning your situation. Without Gods protection like they had in Bethlehem, Naomi s family faced worse trials than what they experienced in the house of bread. The years that Naomi spent in Moab were difficult and painful years. As soon as they reach their destination, the main breadwinner leaves this earth. Being a widow in those days was not the same as being a widow in the times we re living in today. The men worked and provided financially for the whole household. Widows would often depend on the charity of others, if they were left without, in order to survive. Regardless, Naomi and her sons built a life for themselves in the country of Moab. The two boys get married and we can assume they re comfortable where they are seeing as they remain there. Ten years down the line both her sons pass away. It seems that just when you think you re ok and you re comfortable you get the wind knocked out of you. Ten years of living in Moab and this is what it all leads to. Ten years is a very long time to live outside the will of God and yet that s how Naomi lived. Ten years of being comfortable in a place where the living God is not honoured or worshipped but rather idols. Ten years of being comfortable in a place you should never have been in to begin with. Did you know that an idol is anything that takes God s place in your heart? Whatever you find more important to you than God can be considered an idol even if it s not something you purposefully worship. For example, if you re single and all you think about is marriage and you care more about marriage than you do about your relationship with Christ, marriage may just be an idol in your life. If you care more about money, marriage, status, reputation, or keeping up with the latest trends than you need to prayerfully consider that you may be exalting things above God. There is nothing in this world that should be more important to you than God is. That is why in Matthew chapter 6 verses Jesus tells us not to worry about what we will eat or wear because these are the things unbelievers chase after. Our Heavenly Father knows we need these things and we should rather seek the Kingdom of God and all of this other stuff that we need will be added to us. If you seek after stuff, you may get the stuff but you ll miss out on God. If you seek God, you ll find Him and He will ensure that you get all of what you need and more. So, Naomi did what most people do. She remained in the comfortable life she had made for herself and then tragedy rocked her boat. I can only imagine what it must be like losing both of your children. Let s see what happens when Naomi s sons pass away. Ruth 1:5-7 says 5.Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

8 6.Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. 7.Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-inlaw with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. Mahlon and Chilion both died. This was obviously very tragic and painful but look at what happens afterwards. Naomi decides that she is now leaving Moab and returning back to Judah. Sometimes the most painful things in our lives that send us to rock bottom are the very things that open our eyes and show us that we need our Saviour. Often it is when your circumstances leave you without any strength at all and without any idea of how to overcome them, that you realise you cannot do this on your own. That s a good place to be in because that is when God steps in. You see, God is a gentleman. He won t step into our circumstances unless we allow him to. That place where you re weak and you ve hit rock bottom is the perfect starting point for when you ve turned from the will of God for your life and you want to return. You don t even need to be strong because Christ s strength is perfected in our weakness. It says so in 2 Corinthians 12:9. At this point you don t need to be strong, you don t need to try and figure it out on your own. Figuring it out on your own is what got you to this place to begin with. Rock bottom is where you give it all to God, take a deep breath, exhale and let Him have His way with you. When God was pursuing me and loving me before I knew how to love myself I was so resistant to give Him any area of my life. Full control sounded like I want you to be my prisoner and I will dominate you. Sounds extreme but it s true. I was a control freak and a perfectionist, so having someone else dictate what I can or cannot do was an absolute nightmare for me. The truth is that I had deeper issue that shaped me into that kind of person. Nevertheless, God pursued me and He won me over because He really is a perfect being. He s perfect and he loves us so much that it doesn t seem reasonable or real. It s like a fantasy but it s not. It s reality. There is nobody in this world that can love you more than God loves you. Understand that when God asks you to surrender your life to Him, He is doing it out of love for you. He knows how to protect you, love you and build you up. He knows our hearts. He knows us better than we even know ourselves. No one can know you the way God does because He created you. God even gives us the desires of our heart. You don t believe me? Go ahead and look at Psalms 37:4. It says that if you delight yourself in the Lord he will give you the desires of your heart. The way in which he gives you the desires of your heart may not be what you expect but he makes good on his promises, that I can assure you of. How does one overcome such heartache? How does one pick up the pieces of one s life when you re at rock bottom? Naomi shows us a perfect example of how you move past the storms of life. You make a decision. It all starts with a decision. Naomi

9 decided that she could no longer stay where she was and she decided it was time to leave and go back to her home. She went back to Bethlehem, the holy place, the house of bread where she can find rest and nourishment for her soul. It isn t always easy. It may seem like an easy decision to make to go back to the place where God wants you to be but understand this, it takes humility to accept that you re in need. It takes faith to go back to God and begin trusting Him again with what you didn t trust Him with before. It takes strength, which God gives to His children, to move from your comfort zone to a place of godly positioning. It doesn t matter how uncomfortable a person s comfort zone is, often people will hold onto it because it s familiar and they understand how things work in their comfort zone. Once you ve made the decision to go back home, then you follow through with that decision. You go home and God will take it from there. Change is happening. Naomi leaves Moab with her two daughters-in-law. They transition from the land where idols are worshipped to the place that is holy and where the living God is worshipped. Somewhere along the way Orpah, one of Naomi s daughters-in-law, decides to turn back and go back home to the place that she knows. Ruth, on the other hand, remains with her mother-in-law and they enter Judah together. Let s look at an excerpt from the book of Ruth to see what happens next. In verses 19, 20 and 21 this is what s written 19.Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said Is this Naomi? 20.But she said to them, do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21.I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty Naomi is now back in Bethlehem-Judah and even though she s back home, where she belongs, she is angry, she is bitter and she blames God for everything that has happened to her. This is understandable considering the death of her family. It s almost like she has no reason to live. When she and Ruth arrived back in Bethlehem the whole town was buzzing because of her return. When the town s people asked, is this Naomi? She said no. She told them not to call her Naomi anymore but to call her Mara. The name Naomi means pleasantness and the name Mara means bitterness or sorrow. It s as if she were telling the people that she is no longer that happy, pleasant woman they once knew. She is now a bitter and sorrowful woman and she blames God for it. Even though Naomi is back where God positioned her; which is the house of bread (her source of nourishment), she has allowed the circumstances of her life to dictate how she views herself, how she views God and how she views life in general. Do you know those features you get on the new smartphones where you can edit a picture by adding a filter to it? Adding a filter to the image completely changes how it

10 looks. You can change the picture to a black and white picture, you can make it lighter or darker, and you can even make it look like a sketch. Once you add that filter, the image changes and when you look at it you don t see the original image anymore. That s what bitterness and sorrow do to a person. You no longer see life for what it is but rather you see life through your circumstances. You add the filter of bitterness to every word spoken to you and everything that happens in your life. Basically, you block yourself from being happy and you refuse yourself the opportunity to experience joy in your present state. That s what Naomi did. She wasn t happy or thankful that she was in a place where the Lord would supply her with what she needed. She wasn t happy that she was back home with people she knew all her life. She couldn t feel gratitude that she wasn t completely alone (because Ruth was with her and promised to never leave her side). The only thing Naomi could see was that her husband and sons had passed away. Granted, that is extremely painful but everyone suffers loss. No one in the world goes through life without suffering some kind of loss. She wasn t the first and definitely wasn t the last; but does the fact that we all suffer loss give us the right to walk around bitter and angry at the world? Should we all be sorrowful? Should the entire face of the earth change its name to Mara? No! The planet would come to a complete standstill if everyone was living life that way. Nobody would move on and there would be no joy in the world or new experiences. Naomi was in a new place but she was carrying baggage from the past and it was weighing her down. She allowed her baggage and her circumstances to become her identity. No matter what happens in life, God does not want us to change our identity to match our circumstances. Our identity, as the children of God, is and always will be in Christ. It does not matter what your background is, what race you are, where you come from, what you ve done, what you ve lost or anything else. The only One who determines our identity is Jesus Christ. You are who God says you are. Notice the difference in the way Naomi views her past now as compared to when she was living through it. Naomi says I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Naomi and Elimelech did not consider themselves to be full when there was a famine in the land. They felt lack and that s why they went out from Judah in search of more, the more that they were not getting back home. Now that the blessings she once had are gone she realises that she was full, she was rich. She had exactly what she needed and loved most and that was enough for her. She didn t realise it when she had it in her hands but once those blessings were gone she realised that nothing in this world could replace them. There is no more that can replace the lives of the men she loves so much and will only ever see again in Heaven. That s what happens to a lot of us today. It may not be as bad as losing your family or having loved ones pass away but God blesses us with so much and we aren t satisfied with the blessings He s given us. We go out from where He s placed us in

11 search of more. Looking for things that don t add as much value to our lives as what God can offer us. It s only when we lose what God has already given us that we stop and realise we had everything we needed. What we had was more than enough and now that you ve lost it, nothing else in this world can replace it. But, fear not. God is merciful and kind and He always has a plan up His sleeve to make our lives better. This leads me to my next point. Naomi is right in saying that the Lord has brought her back because God is ever drawing us near to Him. He may not force His way into our lives but He does draw us near to Him because He loves us and He knows that in Him we will receive all that we need in abundance. The truth is that Naomi may see herself as empty and she may not even see a reason for living at this point. It s clear that she has went through difficult times and is still trying to bounce back from the storms she s endured, but this is not the end of her life. Quite the contrary, Naomi is full and God has a special purpose for her. God not only wants to bring her home, provide for her and protect her, but God also wants to use her in the life of her daughter-in-law, Ruth.

12 BOAZ S STORY Let s talk a little bit about Boaz. I know that most single women who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and who also deeply desire to be married one day often talk about meeting and marrying their Boaz. From the little we read about him in the book of Ruth, we can conclude that Boaz is definitely a righteous man and he has good qualities that would make him a good choice as a spouse. I d like to focus, just a little, on his story, his life and how the Lord can redeem a person. First of all, Boaz s mother is Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute woman from Canaan. She lived at the edge of the city and her house was on the wall of the city. When the time came for the children of Israel to move from the wilderness into the Promised Land, after spending 40 years in the Promised Land, Joshua sent two spies into the land of Canaan to scope things out. Word got to the king that spies were in the land and that they had gone into Rahab s house. Instead of reporting these men to the king, Rahab helped them by hiding them on her roof and allowing them to escape and as a result, saving her life and the lives of her entire family. You can read more about it in Joshua chapter 2. That act not only took an enormous amount of courage but it also took faith. In Hebrews 11:31 it says that by faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. Rahab s life is a testimony. She was not born as one of God s people. She was one of those that would have been destroyed in Canaan. Not only that, but she was a prostitute; her life was a life of sin and yet somehow she believed in the God of Israel when she heard of Him and what He had done for His people in freeing them from slavery in Egypt. This is the kind of woman who raised Boaz. A woman who had made many mistakes in her lifetime and who knew what it was like to be judged but who then turned her life around and is named in the bible as a woman of faith. Rahab s life should give us an idea of what faith looks like. Knowing this can give us an idea of the background Boaz comes from. I believe that Boaz is a symbol of Christ in this book. Ruth sacrificed her entire life to move to Judah. It is the Holy Spirit that stirred within her the desire to go with her mother-in-law. God spoke to her heart and that is why she was able to step out on faith and move to Judah, unlike Orpah, who went back to Moab and the life she had always known. Having acted on her faith, Boaz found her and redeemed her as her kinsman redeemer. That s just like Jesus Christ. Christ comes into our lives, He draws us near to Him and we choose Him because He first chose us. He comes to us when things look like they couldn t get any worse and He redeems us back to Himself. He redeems our soul and He restores every area of our life. Isaiah chapter 54 says it like this in verse 5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.

13 The Lord longs for you to be near Him and He is mighty to save. God is your redeemer. Boaz may have married Ruth, given her a home and a child but God wants to give us so much more than that. He wants to save us from eternal damnation, adopt us into His family and make us joint heirs with Christ.

14 RUTH S STORY Ruth is the main character in this story. This is definitely not a fairytale like the princess stories most of us read in our childhood. This is a real life story but there is a tiny bit of romance in it biblical romance. Ruth s background is quite different from the background of her mother-in-law, Naomi. We re not given a lot of information about Ruth s family and the circumstances of her life before marrying into this Hebrew family. All we know about her is that she is a Moabitess woman. However, that is background enough in this case. As we discussed earlier, the people of Moab worshipped idols and we can assume that that is what Ruth did before marrying Naomi s son. Ruth was a moabitess woman. That was her identity. That is how she saw herself and that is how she lived her life and interacted with the world since she was born. I m sure that Ruth may not have seen anything wrong with her life or the worship of idols because everyone around her lived similarly ever since she was born. Because of the false beliefs she had and the environment in which she grew up in she did not know God. That was until one day Ruth s life changed. She met a Hebrew man, she fell in love and they got married. This was the beginning of change for her because, they may have still been living in Moab, but she was now married into a Hebrew family who had Hebrew practices. When Naomi finally got tired of living in Moab and decided to leave, her two daughters-in-law got up with her and decided to go with her. This is the moment we realise that Ruth decides to accept the living God as her God. Naomi tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their old homes and their old lives and Orpah does go back, but Ruth chooses to stick to this new path. Ruth had seen and felt something different about this God that she encountered through her marriage. The Lord had been drawing her nearer to Him and she finally decided to say it out loud that she s choosing the God of Israel to be her God. Let s take a look at Ruth s exact words from Ruth 1:16 NKJV And Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you: for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God. The New International Version says it like this: don t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. This is the first time that it s mentioned that Ruth says she accepts Naomi s God, which is the God of Israel, as her own God. This woman had courage. She wasn t afraid to leave her entire life and everything she s ever known behind to follow her mother-in-law to the place where she believes the living God will be found. Ruth loved Naomi with a deep love and didn t want to leave her side but she was also smart because she knew that if she wants to learn about God and about life as a

15 child of God she needed to be close to Naomi. Nobody in her past life was a believer in God because where she came from they had false gods, idols and they did not live according to the word of God. It couldn t have been easy for Ruth to leave her country. It s easy for us to judge Orpah and naturally assume that we would make the same choice as Ruth but take a moment to think about your own life and what you are willing to give up or sacrifice in order to know God better and be in His will. Would you be willing to give up everyone and everything you know for the Lord? Jesus says in Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. That s not to say that you should literally hate your entire family or yourself. It s more to say that you should love God more than anyone or anything and should be willing to let go of those people or things in your comfort zone for His will. It s definitely not an easy task but that is the kind of faith Ruth had, whether she realised it or not and that is why she was rewarded for it. It s clear that both Ruth and Orpah loved Naomi. In fact, I believe that Orpah had intended to leave her country, leave her old life behind and move to Judah with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law just as Ruth did. Take a look at Ruth 1:9, 10. In the previous verses, Naomi had been trying to convince both of them to go back home to their families and to continue on with life because she cannot offer them anything. They were in mourning because of the loss of all their husbands and being a woman in those times was not easy. Your financial security was usually tied to a man. If you did not have a father or husband or even a brother providing for you, you were probably going to struggle financially. So, not only did they have to mourn the loss of their loved ones, but they were also now facing financial difficulties. Right after Naomi tells each of them to return to her own mother s house in verse 8, verse 9 and 10 state: Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her No, we will return with you to your people. This reveals to us that both Ruth and Orpah intended to go back to Judah with Naomi. They both had faith enough to get up and decide to move in the direction that God was leading them to move in. So, what made Ruth different from Orpah? How was it that two people with a similar background, going through the exact same situation end up with different results? Orpah did not have enough faith to finish what she started. If we continue reading we will see that Naomi makes it clear to them that she has nothing to offer them. 12.Turn back my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,

16 13. would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me Ruth 1:12-13 This was Naomi s way of letting them know that life was going to be difficult for them from now on. Naomi obviously loved them and wanted the best for them so she explained to them that they would now be facing poverty and they would be widows for the rest of their lives. She had no more sons for them to marry, as per the custom in their culture. According to their culture, if a married woman was widowed before she and her husband had any children then the husband s unmarried brother would then marry her and the first born child of that union would be considered the descendant of the first husband who is deceased. With the knowledge of the difficult times laid bare before them, Moab seemed like a better option in Orpah s eyes. Moab was familiar and comfortable and so Orpah made the choice to go back home. It s so easy to give up on the life that God wants you to live simply because it comes with tests and challenges. How many times do we give up on things we desire to do when we are faced with challenges? You see, we need to be more like Ruth. We need to be unshaken in our faith. Yes, we will be tested, we will be tried and it s going to be difficult but it is worth it. The prize is not even the earthly blessings that God showers us with. That is just God s favour being poured out onto His children because He loves us. The true reward is a relationship with Jesus Christ and eternity with the Father. I challenge you to be more like Ruth in your daily life. Choose God over all, no matter what attacks that may bring to your door because after all, greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world (1 John 4:4) and all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Let s talk about faith. Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. I want you to truly grasp that. Faith is the evidence of things not yet seen. That means that the fact that you believe in what God has promised you and you act accordingly, through obedience, is all the evidence you need to know it s real. God will call you and lead you into something and you may not even fully understand what it is because you can t see the full picture. It s not important for you to fully understand it immediately. What is important is that you act according to what the Lord is leading you to do. Let s look at Ruth s faith for a moment. Ruth obviously did not know that at the end of her faith she would find a husband. Nothing in Ruth s situation looked like she would become the wife of such a respected man of God who was also well off financially. Boaz had his own field and he had workers he employed, which tells me that he was doing well financially. All Ruth knew is that the God she experienced during her marriage was the real, living God and she was willing to do anything to be with Him and with her mother-in-law. That is important because, as the body of Christ, we need to stop trying to force God into giving us all the details, lay out all the

17 instructions and show us exactly what steps we will need to take and when we will need to take them. That s not faith. If you already know everything that s going to happen then you don t need faith. Let s take a closer look at this faith that Ruth had. I want to mention that when we are being led by God He will guide us and provide for us. Ruth was experiencing poverty at the time. She and Naomi didn t have anything or anyone to lean on or so they thought. They actually had a kinsman redeemer that Naomi may have forgotten about. It was custom during those times to allow the poor to glean, or pick up, the crop that had fallen from those who were harvesting. Since Ruth was gleaning in the fields (So Ruth the moabitess said to Naomi, Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favour Ruth 2:2), that lets us know that she was poor, which would make sense because she and Naomi had lost everything in Moab and decided to go back to Judah because they had heard that the Lord had visited His people and that there was plenty to harvest. Instead of feeling sorry for herself and asking why me?, she decided that she was going to get up and do whatever it is that she can do to get herself and her motherin-law out of that situation. She was in survival mode and she decided to glean in some fields but, when we look at Ruth2:3 we notice that Ruth just happened to come into part of the field that belonged to Boaz. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. I believe that there are no coincidences with God. In Ruth s eyes, she just happened to come into that part of the field but I believe she was being led by God. It s clear that she didn t plan it and she obviously did not know Boaz or that he was a near kinsman to her. She just decided to go out and work and God guided her steps in where she was gleaning. Ruth 2:8-9: 8.Then Boaz said to Ruth, You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9.Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn. Reading Ruth 2:8-9 we get a clear picture of how Boaz resembles Christ. Boaz spotted Ruth gleaning in his field and asked the young men about her. His employees tell him all that they know about Ruth and Boaz immediately begins to take care of her when she does not even know him yet. He spots her, he hears what little information his workers know about her and she finds favour in his sight. It s just

18 like our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He sees us and knows us before we ever even know Him and He begins to take care of us. He died for us while we were yet sinners and He loves us with an everlasting love. At this point Boaz wants to protect Ruth and keep her close. He tells her not to go to any other fields but to rather follow the women who work for him. He also commands the young men not to touch her. Simply put, he tells them not to harm her in any kind of way. She found favour in his sight. Sometimes favour can get you things and open doors that hard work can never open or that would take years to do. It s the grace of God that is upon her life that has allowed her to be blessed in this way. It is that same grace that God wants to lavish on all of us today, if only we would allow Him to be the centre of our lives. He longs to lead us and guide us so we will be blessed, but will we listen to Him? Boaz asked Ruth, you will listen, my daughter, will you not? It was up to Ruth to follow Boaz s instructions or not. He would not force her. He just made the opportunity available to her so she can be blessed. The same occurs with us and our heavenly Father. He speaks to us, daily, but we have to make the time to listen to Him and obey Him when He does give us instructions because they are for our own benefit. God does not want to harm any of His children. Jeremiah 29:11 states For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Why do we find it so difficult to trust in the Lord when He so lovingly declares that the thoughts He has towards us are plans to prosper us, to give us hope and a future? It is in Him to love us. He loves us because He created us. He is our redeemer and he wants to bless us completely. Ruth may have been wondering what she did to deserve favour from a man like Boaz. Boaz had actually told his workers to purposefully drop bundles of grain so that she could glean it and to allow her to glean from the sheaves. I m sure Ruth was wondering how she could be so lucky to have landed in a field where she found favour in the eyes of the owner and then to find bundles of grain lying on the ground for her to take, not even realising that it was a result of the thoughts Boaz was thinking towards her. It was not because she was lucky but because Boaz planned it so she can be blessed. Isn t it time for us to realise that we have an even greater redeemer than Boaz and He longs to bless us with the wonderful thoughts He thinks towards us? Now, we re moving into Ruth, chapter 3. This is where Ruth s redemption is assured. In this chapter this is where Naomi tells Ruth exactly what she needs to do in order to let Boaz know that he is a near kinsman to her and that she would like him to be her kinsman redeemer. Despite Naomi being so bitter and broken because of everything she has lost in her life, she still loves her daughter-in-law and she wants

19 the best for Ruth. In their current situation, they were struggling but Naomi knew that Boaz was a good and upright man and that he would be their kinsman redeemer. I m sure this wasn t easy for Ruth. She has already lost her husband, she s left her country and she is in a foreign land. Now, she is expected to ask a man that she has only just met to take her under his wing as her kinsman redeemer. The thing about Ruth though is that she is obedient. She trusts what her mother-in-law says and she also wants what is best for Naomi, just as Naomi wants what is best for her. They love each other and are willing to do anything for each other. Ruth replies to Naomi s instruction by saying All that you say to me I will do Ruth 3:5 This is the kind of trust and faith that God requires from us. It s hardly ever easy because we may not understand, we may be afraid or we may even have our own plans. A lot of the time we try to push forward with our own plans and ask the Lord to bless those plans, when in reality He is leading us in a different direction or He has told us that it s not the right timing. If you read further, you ll see in verse 10 that Boaz blesses Ruth because she did not go after young men, whether they were rich or poor. This means that Ruth had options. She was a beautiful and virtuous woman. She was known in the community for being a virtuous woman and people could see her character by the way she had been loyal to Naomi. This means that a young man probably would have pursued Ruth sooner or later, if any hadn t already. However, Ruth decided to obey Naomi instead of going her own way. She had faith and believed that her obedience would bring about the best outcome. Ruth 3: And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. 12. Now, it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13. Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you then I will perform the duty for you, as the Lord lives. Let s just speak a little about the fact that Ruth was known by the people in the town that she was a virtuous woman. It s important to realise that your character will be known based on how you live your life and how you treat others in your daily life. Don t be the type of person who treats certain people well and others not. Neither be the type of person who goes to church but your character robs you of your witness. Ask the Lord to build up a good character within you. The bible says that you shall know a person by their fruits (Matthew 7:16). That means that a person will be known by their character and by them exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit. According to Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the kind of fruit we should aspire to produce in our lives. We won t be

20 perfect at it. Life won t be perfect and we don t have to look at life through rose coloured glasses. However, even when tempted, yield yourself to the Spirit of God and allow Him to build these fruit in you so that your character speaks louder than your words. When people see your character they should begin to see a glimpse of Christ, and that is why the apostle Paul says that we are living epistles (see 2 Corinthians 3:2-3). I think Boaz might have had feelings for Ruth. I think he cared for her. He enquired about her before she had even seen him. He provided for her without her even realising it. He gave her liberties that he otherwise wouldn t have. He may have fallen in love with her but might not have pursued her because he was much older than her. He even called her daughter, which indicates that he must have been older. He also lets Ruth know that there is a man who is a closer relative than he, which means the duty of kinsman redeemer would fall onto that man s shoulders, but Boaz was willing to do whatever it took so that he could be the one to perform this duty. Ruth s obedience ends up being a blessing to Ruth, Naomi and Boaz. Boaz would be with the woman he loves, Ruth would marry a good man and Naomi will have what she lost, in terms of land returned to her through Ruth s marriage. Finally, in Ruth chapter 4, we see that Boaz now sets out a plan to redeem Ruth. He calls the man who is a closer relative to Naomi and Ruth and he tells the man about the land that Naomi sold and asks him if he will redeem it. The man says yes. Boaz, knowing his cousin, then tells the man that he would also have to marry Ruth. This makes the man reject the offer to be the kinsman redeemer because he doesn t want his inheritance to be affected by Ruth and her descendants. After settling the matter concerning who would become the kinsman redeemer for Naomi and Ruth, Boaz finally married Ruth. He bought back their land and took Ruth as his wife. Without even realising it and definitely without planning it, Ruth has become a great blessing. Through Ruth, Naomi has a grandchild, her only grandchild, and she has the land which she had lost when they moved to Moab. She had initially said she was empty and told the people in the town to call her Mara but now God has filled her up again with a new child in her life. Boaz was also blessed to have a wife and a son. This is the beauty of God s grace. God blesses us because He loves us so dearly and through our own blessing we can become a blessing to others. It s a chain effect of blessings. At the end of Ruth chapter 4 we find that Ruth s son, Obed, is the grandfather of king David. It is through the descendents of David that the Lord Jesus Christ is born into this world. How amazing is it that a woman who was not even born into a life of faith, but was rather born into a country that worshipped idols, was blessed enough to be one of the people who are the descendents of Jesus Christ? Ruth is one of the few women who are even mentioned in the bible. Her life is a testimony for us.

21 God so deeply desires to give us great things and to use us in other people s lives by blessing us so we can then bless others. It is difficult to imagine that the Lord would actually bless you the same way He blessed the people we read about in the bible, but remember that these people were all human. Ruth was human just like everyone else. The only difference between Ruth and someone else who may not experience God s blessings is that Ruth was obedient and she had faith. She humbled herself and allowed herself to listen to others and follow their lead or their instruction.